Rolled hat brim shaping device

ABSTRACT

A device of wire-rod type material, about the consistency of a clothes hanger, is bent into U-shape, and the parallel legs of a second identical U-shaped member is connected to the parallel legs of the first U-shaped member by slip-lock means. The closed portions of the two U-shaped members are bent through approximately 270*, on a radius of curvature approximating a desired radius of curvature for the rolled brim of a cowboy hat. In modifications, the entire device may be made of a single piece of wire-rod; and, the parallel portions of the legs of the &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;U&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; may be foreshortened, one with respect to the other, to give a &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;tapered&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; effect.

nited States Patent [191 Billingslea, Jr...

[ Jan.7,i975

[ ROLLED HAT BRIM SHAPING DEVICE [76] Inventor: Elmer O. Billingslea, Jr., Route 1,

Salina, Okla. 74365 [22] Filed: June 20, 1974 [21] Appl. No.1 481,446

[52] US. Cl. 223/84 [51] Int. Cl. D06c 15/00 [58] Field of Search 223/1, 24, 25, 52.1, 52.2,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,402,865 9/l968 Moreau 223/84 Primary ExaminerGeo. V. Larkin A rn y, Assramrfirm :Clarsrwe A Qlir Harvey B. Jacobson ABSTRACT A device of wire-rod type material, about the consistency of a clothes hanger, is bent into U-shape, and the parallel legs of a second identical U-shaped member is connected to the parallel legs of the first U- shaped member by slip-lock means. The closed portions of the two U-shaped members are bent through approximately 270, on a radius of curvature approximating a desired radius of curvature for the rolled brim of a cowboy hat. ln modifications, the entire device may be made of a single piece of wire-rod; and, the parallel portions of the-legs of the U may be foreshortened, one with respect to the other, to give a tapered effect.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures ROLLED HAT BRIM SHAPING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The Jones patent (US. Pat. No. 595,176, issued Dec. 7, 1897) discloses a pair of pivotally attached, bendable, strap or strip members that extend interiorly of the crowns of variously shaped hats. The Wittcoff patent (US. Pat. No. 1,636,889, issued July 26, 1927) discloses a permanently stitched-in" wire around the entire periphery of a hat'brim, plus additional clamping means. The Moreau patent (US. Pat. No. 3,402,865, issued Sept. 24, 1968) discloses a single rectangular sheet which may be re-shaped to desired configuration by immersing in hot water.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Among the objects and advantages of my invention are the following:

1. To provide an economical, easily assembled, device for retaining vthe shape of the rolled brim portion of a cowboy hat.

2. To provide one modification wherein the device is made of a single strip of wire-rod stock and a single slip-lock.

3. To provide modifications of each of (1) and (2) above, wherein the device may be set to provide a more tapered effect to the rolled brim of a cowboy hat.

These together with other object and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a top view of a cowboy hat with the device of my invention placed thereon in shape-retaining position.

FIG. 2 is a frontal view, viewed from the left hand side of FIG. 11.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the device, per se.

FIG. 4 is a modification (on a smaller scale), showing my device made from a single piece of wire-rod stock, a single, longer, slip-lock, and having a more pronounced tapered effect.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the drawings, a typical cowboy-style hat is denoted by reference numeral 10. The preferred embodiment of my device is characterized as 12 on each of FIGS. 1, 2, and 3; and a variation, including a more tapered effect, and having a single wire'and a single slip-lock is 1 denoted as 14, in FIG. 4.

The hat is shown as having a pair of rolled brim portions at l6-l6. Retainer 12 has a pair of U-shaped members l8l8, each having a flat, or squared, connecting portion at 20, and each having a pair of legs 22-22. The legs 2222 which parallel each other are retained in frictional engagement with each other by means of the four slip-lock connectors 24-24. Connectors 24 may be slightly elliptically-shaped cylinders that force a friction fit between the touching legs 22 of members 18 within a given slip-lock connector 24. Or. the slip-locks 24 may be only incomplete cylinders, each having a pair of side-by-side grooves to frictionally receive the adjacent legs 22 therein.

As illustrated, each of the U-legs l822 are bent on a radius of curvature approximating the desired radius of curvature for the rolled brim portion 16. In practice, the springy nature of most clothes hanger stock requires a certain amount of overbending, and then the radius of curvature will spring-back" to the desired curvature.

In FIG. 4, the device of my invention is formed from a single length of wire stock 28. Two flat or squared bight portions 30-30 are formed, and the two ends 3232 are frictionally held together by a larger sliplock 34 (but structured similarly to the structures 24, described above). Further, when the initial single length of wire stock is initially bent, it is bent so that the single length of wire between 30-30 is much shorter than the length of wire including the two ends 3232 retained within connector 34, thus producing a more tapered, or pointed, effect for the rolled brim portions than that illustrated, for example, in FIG. I. If the FIG. 4 device were applied to FIG. 1, the rolled brim portions would come to a much quicker "V" than as illustrated in FIG. 1.

By way of further explanation, the following, varied, methods of making are disclosed:

The device may be made from either a single extent or plural lengths of wire-rod type material, about the consistency of clothes hangers, as follows:

1. Bend a pair of U-shaped members of approximately one to one and one-half foot length at the joined portion of each U, so that it curls, on a radius of curvature approximating the radius of curvature desired on the rolled brim of a cowboy hat; overlap and connect the parallel, open-ended, portions of a pair of such curled U" members by means of a slip-lock element spanning a pair of overlapped, parallel legs of the two U members.

2. Start with a single length of clothes hanger type wire-rod stock; bend it into an oblong racetrack type configuration, but with the free ends thereof overlapping each other by several inches near a middle portion of the oblong configuration; and, then connect the overlapping portions with a single slip-lock element.

3. In either (I) or (2) above, a further variation consists of making one of the pairs of parallel legs (in l) shorter" than the other pair; or, shortening either the overlapped portions, or the parallel single portions (in 2) so that a more tapered effect is obtained which will give the rolled brim portions of a cowboy hat a more pointed pair of rolled brims, e.g., the two rolled portions will be closer together at the front of the hat (coming closer to a point at the front of the hat) than they would be in the absence of such a tapered arrangement.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What'is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A rolled brim retaining means for a hat including a pair of generally U-shaped wire-like members, the closed portion or bottom of each U-shaped member being bent upon a radius that will approximate the radius of desired curvature of a rolled brim portion of a hat, the paired open-ends of each U-shaped member being loosely interconnected by a slip-lock arrangement providing means to adjust the distance between the two curved portions of the joined U-shaped members, said slip-lock connections allowing movement of 5 the parallel, open-ended portions of the U-shaped members, but being sufficiently close-fitting to frictionally prevent undesired movement or separation of said parallel portions without the user exerting force to accomplish such a movement or separation, so that once the retaining means is placed in the desired position on the rolled brim of a hat, it will retain the rolled brim in such position until further wearing of the hat.

2. The retaining means of claim 1 wherein the dimensions are such as to be readily applied to a conventional cowboy hat.

3. The retaining means of claim 2 wherein the extent of adjustment of the distance between the bent U- bottoms can be varied from approximately 4 to 10 inches, and the distances between the parallel legs may be varied between /2 and inch.

4. The retaining means of claim 3 wherein (A) one pair of parallel legs, secured together by one of said slip-lock connections, is shorter in length than the other pair of parallel legs, or, (B) one slip-lock connection is more resistant to movement than the other sliplock connection, so that a more, or less, tapered effect may be obtained, depending upon how the retaining means is positioned on the rolled brim portion of a hat. 

1. A rolled brim retaining means for a hat including a pair of generally U-shaped wire-like members, the closed portion or bottom of each U-shaped member being bent upon a radius that will approximate the radius of desired curvature of a rolled brim portion of a hat, the paired open-ends of each U-shaped member being loosely interconnected by a slip-lock arrangement providing means to adjust the distance between the two curved portions of the joined U-shaped members, said slip-lock connections allowing movement of the parallel, open-ended portions of the U-shaped meMbers, but being sufficiently close-fitting to frictionally prevent undesired movement or separation of said parallel portions without the user exerting force to accomplish such a movement or separation, so that once the retaining means is placed in the desired position on the rolled brim of a hat, it will retain the rolled brim in such position until further wearing of the hat.
 2. The retaining means of claim 1 wherein the dimensions are such as to be readily applied to a conventional cowboy hat.
 3. The retaining means of claim 2 wherein the extent of adjustment of the distance between the bent U-bottoms can be varied from approximately 4 to 10 inches, and the distances between the parallel legs may be varied between 1/2 and 3/4 inch.
 4. The retaining means of claim 3 wherein (A) one pair of parallel legs, secured together by one of said slip-lock connections, is shorter in length than the other pair of parallel legs, or, (B) one slip-lock connection is more resistant to movement than the other slip-lock connection, so that a more, or less, tapered effect may be obtained, depending upon how the retaining means is positioned on the rolled brim portion of a hat. 